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A. Introduction
The primary theme of King John is patriotism.
Primoratz and Pavkovic 2008:18 state that “Patriotism, then, is love of one’s country,
identification with it and special concern for its well-being and that of compatriots”. Patriotism is brave action to defend country. The means
people have willing to sacrifice for their country. Aldington in Primoratz and Pavkovic 2008:18 states that patriotism is lively sense of collective
responsibility. Patriotism is about love and loyalty to country. This view of patriotism is pretty simple. When country is attacked, people must
defend their country. The only real way to defend is by military force. However, the war is last solution. If a man to be patriotic, the man must
support his land There are two types of patriotism. They are extreme patriotism and
moderate patriotism. Machiavelli states that when the safety of ones country wholly depends on the decision to be taken, no attention should be
paid either to justice or injustice, to kindness or cruelty, or to its being praiseworthy or ignominious. The term extreme means patriotism does not
have positive evaluation and intolerant concerning criticism. Nathanson in Primoratz and Pavkovic 2008:76 states that extreme patriotism is
characterized by a belief in the superiority of one’s country, a rejection any constraints on the pursuit of national well-being, and uncritical support for
one’s government with respect to war. Extreme patriotism priority is exclusive concern for one’s own country. It does not have moral
constraints on the pursuit of national goals. Nathanson in Primoratz and Pavkovic 2008:24 states that
moderate patriotism is adherent shoe special concern for her country and compatriots, but that does not prevent her from having a measure of
concern for other countries and their inhabitants. Moderate Patriotism is opened by the criticism to give a positive change in order to achieve
common prosperity. Constructive and evaluation aim to keep group remains on the right track.
King John is one of the historical plays of William Shakespeare. King John was written in 1590 and was published in the early seventeen
century in the first folio. King John was published by The Pennsylvania State University in 1998. The King John play is William Shakespeares
first historical play. It’s related to the reign of King John of England, his death was replaced by his son, Henry the third of England.
King John is an interesting play because there are four aspects that are interesting to be analyzed. The first aspect is King John had been
written by great author William Shakespeare. William Shakespeare had made many masterworks especially in literature.
The second reason is interesting to be studied. King John does not use modern English language but contemporer English language. As
reported Mabillard in her article Shakespeares Language in Shakespeare Online on June 9, 2013 state that by about 1450, Middle English was
replaced with Early Modern English, the language of Shakespeare, which is almost identical to contemporary English. King John play makes
researcher be challenged to know more King John for great analysis and understanding.
The Third one is to know the history of England after Richard the lion heart died in Crusade. From the King John by Shakespeare we can
find that the patriotism, love, loyalty are played beautifully. The last reason is King John has been described by Shakespeare as
a good man who tries to keep and protect from English enemy. Patriotism and loyalty are revealed in this play. People can know the connection
between the play and sociological aspects in literature study. Shakespeare wants the readers to give attention that patriotism and loyalty to the empire
are important. People can learn love and give good impact in society and life. The effects can be studied in sociological term which studies the
social life of a human.
William Shakespeare delivered his idea about the practice of patriotism in England by writing King John play. He criticizes the
phenomena of patriotism in English society through the story of play. There is correlation between patriotism and the drama. It is an interesting
topic to be discussed. Therefore, the writer wants to study the drama by using sociological approach
A. Research Method
